Social skills training

What is it?

Social skills training supports children to think before they act, understand other people’s perspectives, communicate effectively, and use strategies for managing impulsiveness or aggression. Research suggests that children who develop social skills and self-control are less likely to become involved in crime and violence.

Social skills training can be delivered through universal programmes, which work with all children, or through programmes which work in a targeted way with children who could benefit from more support. Programmes are often delivered at school through structured lessons and can vary in intensity from a single, short session to 40 or more sessions over eight months or more. School-based programmes will often be delivered by teachers with the support of training by programme staff.

Activities can include:

• Role playing. For example, children might take on different roles in a potential conflict and practise strategies for resolving the conflict peacefully.
• Video demonstrations of positive behaviours. For example, children might be shown examples of other children playing together and finding ways to resolve conflict.
• Specific activities to reinforce effective delayed gratification.
• Relaxation and deep breathing techniques which children could use to calm down if they become angry.
• Teacher observations of children playing to monitor their development of these skills.

Is it effective?

The research suggests that, on average, the impact of social skills training on preventing violence is likely to be high. On average social skills training programmes have reduced the number of children involved in crime by 32%.

On average social skills training programmes have reduced the number of children involved in crime by 32%.

How secure is the evidence?

We have high confidence in our estimate of the impact on violent crime.

The estimate is based on a high-quality review of many studies. Many of the original studies are randomised control trials – a strong design for understanding the impact of an intervention. The available research has directly measured the impact on crime but has not separated out the impact on violence within this.

However, we have downgraded our confidence rating because there is a lot of variation in the estimates provided by the underlying research. Although the majority of studies suggested a decrease in crime, one fifth of studies suggested that the intervention caused an increase. Potential reasons for this variation are explored in the ‘Is it effective?’ section above.

Most of the research comes from the USA. The evidence and gaps map contains three relevant studies of school-based primary prevention programmes from the UK: two evaluations of the PATHS programme and one evaluation of the SEAL programme. None of these studies measured the impact on crime but all three failed to find a sustained impact on social skills.

How can you implement it well?

We reviewed the implementation findings from the three UK evaluations mentioned above. All three studies examined school-based primary prevention programmes.

The evaluations suggested that the most frequent implementation barrier was finding time in an already busy curriculum for social skills training to take place. In one evaluation, teachers were only able to deliver half of the planned activities.

The adaptability and accessibility of teaching materials were described as an important factor in successful implementation. Teachers reported difficulties when using a programme that was developed in the USA. They were sceptical about the fit with their local culture. Some of the content did not seem to be relevant to the lives of the children in their class.

What programmes are available?

Below is a list of programmes found in the Early Intervention Foundation’s (EIF) Guidebook. The Guidebook summarises the research on programmes that aim to improve outcomes for children and young people.

How much does it cost?

On average, the cost of social skills training is likely to be moderate.

School-based primary prevention programmes are likely to have lower costs. For example, the EEF estimate that PATHS cost £11.52 per child per year. Intensive secondary prevention programmes are likely to have higher costs.

The costs are likely to include programme materials such as videos or hand outs and training and paying staff to deliver the programme. If the programme is delivered by teachers this will include the cost of teaching cover while they attend training.

Topic summary

• On average, social skills training is likely to have a relatively large impact on violent crime. However, there is a lot of variation in the impact of programmes. While most programmes have had desirable impacts, some programmes have caused harm.
• Targeted programmes working with children who need more intensive support have achieved greater impacts than universal programmes.
• There has been limited research in the UK. The existing studies have focused on school-based primary prevention programmes. Future research should investigate the impact of secondary prevention programmes which have had greater success in the international literature.

Take away messages

All contexts:

• Put in place targeted programmes for children who need specific support with social and emotional skills. 
• Identify internal staff members or external organisation to deliver sessions (which can be one-to-one or small-group) for these children.  
• Deliver these sessions weekly, for a minimum of one full term.   
• Put in place universal curricula to develop children’s social and emotional skills.  

Primary context:

• Read and act on the EEF’s Social and Emotional Learning Guidance.  
• Consider using evidence-based programmes such as DARE25, Incredible Years Child Training, PATHS elementary.  

Secondary context:  

• Consider copying or using promising programmes like Healthy Minds, and Becoming a Man. 

YEF projects and evaluations

YEF funded evaluations of four social skills programmes. Programmes had varied aims, including reducing antisocial behaviour and risk of offending, developing skills to reduce behavioural and emotional difficulties, improve relationships, and to keep young people safe from exploitation and criminality.

The evaluations included:

• A feasibility and pilot evaluation of Branching Out delivered by Wakefield Youth Services offering social and emotional skill development sessions, detached youth work and a targeted programme
• A randomised control trial of DARE 25 delivered by Life Skills Education Charity, sessions included role play, discussion groups and reading and writing exercises
• A feasibility evaluation of Becoming a Man (BAM), delivered by a counsellor from the Mental Health Foundation. The central component is the BAM Circle, a weekly group session, delivered over 2 years
• A feasibility and pilot evaluation of The Confident Resilient Children Project delivered by the Titan Partnership, including 11 weekly sessions exploring decision making and mentoring to a targeted group.

External links

EIF social and emotional skills training summary report
A summary report on the importance of social and emotional skills training and how to improve these skills, for children and young people in the UK.

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